Trump has apparently decided he doesn't need advice anymore

Trump is reportedly done taking advice
(Image credit: Alex Edelman-Pool/Getty Images)

Over the past week, President Trump has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, openly advocated the death penalty for drug dealers, bragged about lying to Canada's prime minister, apparently forced the firing of a retiring deputy FBI director, and, most recently, hinted on Twitter that he might try to oust Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating him. Trump is "newly emboldened to say what he really feels and to ignore the cautions of those around him" because he "now believes he has settled into the job" of being president and trusts his instincts more than his advisers, Maggie Haberman reports at The New York Times, citing a dozen people close to Trump or his White House.

"Projecting strength, control, and power, whether as a New York developer or domineering reality television host, has always been vital to Mr. Trump," Haberman writes. "But in his first year in the White House, according to his friends, he found himself feeling tentative and anxious, intimidated by the role of president, a fact that he never openly admitted but that they could sense." No more.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.